


Surprise!

by kelex



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-29
Updated: 2013-07-29
Packaged: 2017-12-21 19:29:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/904009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kelex/pseuds/kelex
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Giles' birthday, but will anyone remember?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Surprise!

Xander was wakened not by the ringing of his alarm clock, but by the ringing of his telephone. He grabbed it quickly, not wanting whomever was on the other end to be subjected to a spate of drunken raging by either of his parents. "Hello?"

"Xander, wake up. We have work to do."

Buffy? "It's..." Xander rolled over to consult the alarm clock. "Five AM. It's early. Earlier than we ever see you awake, actually," he commented through a yawn. "Didn't think you ever got up--"

"Xander, shut up and listen." Buffy was yawning too. "Do you know what today is?"

Eye roll. "Long shot but... early Friday morning?" Xander sat up on the side of the bed, scratching his head as he spoke.

"It's Giles' *birthday*," Buffy stressed. "And this has *not* been a great year for him. Angel and Jenny, Ethan's thing with the candy--eww, so not going there--him getting *fired* because of me."

"I'm smelling... surprise party?" Xander sat up straight, grubby olive t-shirt falling down over his bare stomach. "I'll assemble the Scooby gang for action."

"Mom's already making a cake, but I need you to go after school and pick up like, two dozen jelly doughnuts. Get Willow to print out a big Happy Birthday Giles banner, and I'll cut study hall and go to his place and get it ready."

Another nod from Xander. "Oz doing music?" 

"Only if Dingoes can cover the Bay City Rollers." A snort. "Otherwise, he's stuck as DJ."

"Cordy and James Bond?"

"A world of no, and yes as a professional courtesy."

"So... you, me, your mom, Willow and Oz, and 007?"

Buffy sighed. "Better go ahead and plan for Cordelia too, just in case. You know how she gets."

"Right. So, the seven of us, plus Giles, equals three dozen jellies. Okay. Me on doughnut patrol, Will on banners, Oz on the turntable, and Buffy the Decorator." Xander paused. "Oh! Card! For birthday wishes!"

"Taken care of. Got it last night after patrol. Thank God for 24-hour Wal-Marts. Just gotta make sure everyone signs it. And, Mom's going to help find his albums--I told her not to tell me how she knows."

"Okay." Xander looked at the clock again. "I'll call Will, and we'll meet in the lounge before first?"

"Great." Buffy grinned at the phone, then yawned. "This is going to be Giles' best birthday ever."

\- = - = - 

This was the unhappiest birthday Giles had possibly ever had. For the first time in two decades, Rupert found himself all but excommunicated from the Council and forced to endure the posturing of some wet-behind-the-ears little pouf who was trying to take *his* Slayer. But today? He'd bloody well gift-wrap the little bint and hand her over.

It had stung, more than a little, to see them all huddled together there with the little arse, the furious hum of conversation falling embarrassingly silent as he'd approached. He'd been a fool, thinking those children had liked him instead of merely just accepting him by default into their group. Instead of pushing himself where it was obvious he'd not been wanted, Giles had turned on his heel and left.

Now, though, it was nearing third period, and he'd not had a single visit from any of his children. It surprised him, for a moment, that he thought of them as his children, but he found himself not entirely displeased with the notion. 

Of course, his children wouldn't have excluded him. From anything. At that moment, Giles realized that perhaps his exclusion from their little group had hurt more than he'd admitted to himself. Or, maybe he was simply maudlin over his birthday once again passing unnoticed.

\- = - = - 

Buffy peeked into the round window of the library door. Giles had his back to the door, with a rather large book open on the desk in front of him, a cup of steaming tea in his hand. "Okay, we're good. Giles is reading. Xander, go check in. Don't say a word about the surprise. You...," she continued, grabbing Wesley by the lapels, "...stay out of the library. Go... pretend to be an observer and observe Cordelia's comp class or something. Just stay *out* of Giles' face. Got it?" She loosened her grip on his collar.

"Of course, I understand completely. I will entertain myself elsewhere until the soirée." Wesley straightened his shoulders. 

"Fine, just entertain yourself somewhere *not* here." Buffy sighed as she looked around. "My mom's over at his house now; I told her where to find the spare key, and she's setting up the cake and getting out the albums. She's also hiding the cigarettes."

"Giles smokes?" Willow was shocked.

"Yeah, well, I didn't know either, but Mom says it was the whole sixteen-again-bad-band-candy-magic thing. But I'm not taking any chances. The music's out, the cigarettes are hidden, and oh my God, I didn't tell her about the weapons closet. She'll rearrange everything and Giles'll kill me."

"Well, on that happy, yet panic-filled note, I think I'll go and see how our birthday boy is doing, and I promise, not a word will fall from these lips." Xander made the motion of zipping his lips as he pushed the swinging doors open. 

\- = - = -

Giles didn't even realize who'd noticed the library. "Elizabethan poets, up the stairs, to your right, third shelf over." Students had been coming in all morning for books for the essay that Ms. Littman had assigned. 

Xander blinked. "Well, um, thanks for the directions, but I'm not looking for Elizabethan poets. I don't even know what an Elizabethan is, and I don't *want* to know." He tossed his backpack onto the desk. "What's goin' on? Not the end of the world?" Xander indicated the huge book on the desk.

"Xander!" Surprise. "End of--no, no. Just a bit of light reading, that's all." Giles put his teacup down and closed the book hastily. 

"Light... reading? As opposed to heavy reading?" He snorted, and tried to pick up the book, and nearly dropped it. "No, no. This isn't light. This, this is the total *opposite* of light reading."

Giles tugged off his glasses and massaged the bridge of his nose. "I do assume your visit had a point?"

"Oh! Point! Right." Xander thought fast. "I need a place to hang out for the next period. The, uh, the substitute in class has already said that once you turn in your homework, you're free to go, and since I didn't do it in the first place..."

"Xander, the library is a place of work and research, not a hangout."

"You're... joking? I mean, that's all we do here. Hang out, fight demons, live on the edge of a Hellmouth... this is like, Cool Hangout Central here, Giles!" Xander rubbed his hands together, and looked pleadingly at Giles.

Rupert just sighed. "Have it your way, Xander. You can help me sort through the stacks. We're going through a bit of a quiet spell right now, and I was hoping that we could find a bit more on the Mayor's Ascension. I've gone through most of the--"

"Whoa, Giles? What part of *hanging out* didn't you understand? I'm here... to kick back for an hour, prop my feet up on your table--" Then at the acidic look from Giles, he sighed. "Maybe not prop my feet up, and research a few slime demons while I'm at it."

"Wonderful. You can start right there, in the shelf behind you. They're all books about demon rites and celebrations. I'll be upstairs, working in the stacks. Do give a shout if you find anything."

"Sure." Xander dropped his backpack on the table and watched Giles climb the stairs. *Buffy, you are so going to owe me...*

\- = - = - 

Giles felt eyes watching him. Not unusual in the stacks, as many of the books in here had demons or monsters trapped within their pages and Giles often felt as though he were being watched. 

Never before had he felt as though he were being scrutinized. Sized up, checked out, and evaluated. But he shrugged it off, instead peering at the spines of the shelved tomes and pulling several out to stack in the crook of his elbow. The books went flying out of his arm when he felt breath on the back of his neck, and he whirled around to find himself face to face with Ethan Rayne. "What the--" Giles forcibly lowered his voice. "What the bloody hell are you doing here?"

Ethan's lips spread into a smirking grin. "Would I miss my Ripper's birthday, especially when I was in the area only so recently?" He stroked a hand over Giles' chest. "Where's the little chit you were with the last time?" 

"In class, where she should be, and don't you dare--"

Ethan moved closer to Giles, until they were chest to chest, sharing the same breaths. "That's not the one I mean, Rupert." 

Giles' mind made the connection a few seconds later. Ethan had seen him and Joyce together. Christ. "She's at home, or work, I suppose, doing whatever it she does during the day."

"Good." Ethan slithered even closer to Giles, fisting his hands in the horrid brown sweater that Rupert was wearing and hauled him in. Mouths met and Giles returned the kiss wholeheartedly, Ethan's tongue stroking fiercely and possessively in his Ripper's mouth. "That wasn't a very nice thing to do, Rupert. Leave me all handcuffed, alone, in the factory. Shame shame shame." He kissed Giles again, just as deeply. "It's a good thing I'm the forgiving type. And just in time too. I'm sorry I didn't have time to pick up a pretty little trinket, but you'll just have to make do... with me."

Giles had a comment ready on the tip of his tongue, to reassure Ethan that he was all the present necessary, when there was a sharp little metallic click in the silence, and a second later, he felt cold metal touching his skin. "What the--" Giles held his arm up. The same pair of silver handcuffs that he'd used on Ethan were now dangling from his wrist. "Ethan take this--"

"*Kyreador, empyreal affectioandus, concalamus.*"

Giles watched as Ethan intoned the glamour spell, then the air around the handcuff shimmered briefly, then settled, only the handcuff was completely invisible. "What did that accomplish?"

"Now you can't tell me to take it off." Ethan ran his hand up under Giles' sweater. "I don't suppose I could convince you to leave now?"

Giles closed his eyes, hissing softly. "No. Xander's downstairs, I've got study hall in two hours, and I have to be there to take care of the children."

"Tonight, then? A... private celebration?" Ethan's hand kept stroking the smooth fabric of his Ripper's shirt under the sweater. Not touching skin. Not yet. But he would. Soon. 

Giles paused. "It doesn't have to be tonight. This evening, after school. Five o'clock. You do remember the way to my house, yes?" 

Ethan's eyes narrowed, just the slightest bit, but he nodded yes, he did remember. "You don't have any other plans?"

A firm shake of his head, though Giles couldn't mask the loneliness in his eyes. "None whatsoever."

\- = - = - 

Xander escaped from the library; fourth and fifth hours came and went, then it was Giles' turn to watch study hall. As soon as he walked into class, he noticed Buffy's absence. It was unusual, yes, especially considering that she hadn't come by the library to report any strange events, but perhaps it had simply been an emergency she hadn't had time to inform him of. Instead of worrying, Giles proceeded to call the roll, marking Buffy absent, and then looked over the sea of tired faces.

"All right. You're all dismissed. Go ahead; it's been a long week." Giles' fingers rubbed his forehead, feeling the handcuffs stroking his cheek as he did so. "It's all right, I haven't lost my mind, go."

One of the kids in the front row didn't bother to wait, just grabbed his bookbag and tore out of the classroom. That was like pulling the plug from the dam; in a few seconds the room was entirely empty except for Xander and Willow. They were trading significant glances back and forth, and Willow surged up from her seat first. "Giles! Are you... okay?"

"Yes, Willow, I'm fine. Just a little tired. Xander and I have been working hard in the library today. I think I've earned the right to be a little tired."

Willow blinked. "Well... yeah. Of course. I just... well, you know. I was worried. You're Giles. Giles never gets tired. Giles is--"

"A human being, just like the rest of you all." Giles scooped up the books he'd brought with him in preparation to return them to the library. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have plans tonight."

A look of pure panic shot between Xander and Willow. 

"You can't have plans!" Xander all but shouted. "You can't!!"

Giles rudely interrupted. "I most certainly can--and do--have plans for the evening. I am an adult male, and despite what you all seem to think, I do have a life, hobbies, and friends. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have someone to meet." Giles swept out of the room.

"Whoa. Giles meltdown." Willow was staring after the usually reserved librarian. "Never seen him like that before."

Xander sighed, and started to dig through his pockets for loose change and the slip of paper with Giles' phone number on it. "What was it Buffy said? Ring twice, hang up, and call back?"

\- = - = - 

"Mom!! I told you not to organize!" Buffy was staring in horror at Giles' weapons closet. "He'll kill me."

"But... but sweetie! Those knives and things, they're dangerous. And they shouldn't be just lying around like that! Don't worry. Mr. Giles will thank me."

Headache. City. "Okay, fine. You just get to be the one who tells him. Is the cake ready?"

"Yes, yes, and so is the tea, and, since we don't know how old he is, I got candles that spell out his name."

"Giles. Tell me you got Giles and not Ripper."

A blush spread over Joyce's cheeks. "Of course I got Giles."

Buffy sighed. "Thank God." 

The phone rang twice, then stopped. Buffy and Joyce exchanged a long, pained look, and Joyce picked it up after the next ring. "Hello?" She paused. "Oh, hi, Xander! How are--oh." Another pause. "What do you mean, Giles has--" A knock at the door. "One second, Xander. Honey? Can you see who that is?"

"Sure, Mom." Buffy left her mother on the phone with Xander, and went to the front door, staring through the peephole. Then she sighed, and for a brief second, pondered not opening the door at all. "Wesley. Cordelia. Why am I not surprised to see you together. Come on in, and behave yourselves, before I have to separate you."

"I was just in need of a ride and Ms. Chase--Cordelia--was kind enough to offer me transportation."

"Right," Buffy said, completely unbelieving. "You just lost the keys to your rental."

Wesley looked down, and Cordelia butted in. "We're not doing the present thing, are we? Cause Giles? Just icky to buy for, and I'm not touching chicken eyeballs, or whatever it is."

"Now, now. Mr. Giles merely has refined tastes, Ms. Chase, much as you do. Only his tastes are on a different level than your own," Wesley said, in defense of his fellow countryman and former co-worker.

"Yeah, whatever. Much more interested in *your* tastes, Mr. Wyndham-Pryce."

"Oh, yeah, let's make Giles' day all about the guy who swooped in and took his job," she muttered. Then, in her regular voice, "No, no, your presence here is enough of a present."

"Finally, someone appreciates me." 

Buffy's comeback was interrupted by another knock at the door. "Ooh. That's, uh, that's Oz. I gotta get that." She bolted towards the front door, and checked the peephole. Sure enough, Oz was standing there with a set of hand trucks that had a stereo, speakers, and an old turntable he'd gotten from a thrift store. "Hey, Oz. Come on in. MOM!!"

Joyce straightened up. "Yeah, no, it's okay, Xander. Just come on over, and we'll work things out when you get here. Okay. Bye." She hung up, and stared briefly at Oz. "You must be..."

"Oz." Nothing else forthcoming. 

"Right! Mom, this is Willow's boyfriend, Oz. Oz, this is my mom, Joyce."

"Pleased to meet you," Joyce said.

"Likewise." He turned to Buffy. "Setup?" 

"Right over there. Mom? Take him over there and show him Giles' albums, okay? You remember... ick ick ew, you remember what he liked?" Buffy shuddered, and deliberately did *not* contemplate Giles and her mother together.

"Of course I do, sweetie. Oz, is it? Right this way." 

"Thanks." Oz looked over his shoulder at Buffy. "Great mom."

\- = - = - 

Giles barely took the time to drop the books off in the library before leaving. Didn't have to ask where Ethan was; he followed the feeling inside his head, parking his car in the first open spot in the small bar's parking lot, right beside little red thing Ethan drove. Knowing his old friend, he wondered if anyone had bothered him yet.

Not that anyone would be stupid enough to try to harass him, not after sensing the power at his fingertips, anyway.

He didn't even have to speak; Ethan had brandy waiting for him by the time he got to the barstool. "Cheers, mate." 

"Thank you." Giles picked up the glass and drained it. "Got done a bit early." He hitched himself up onto the stool beside Ethan, and turned so that he looked at his old friend while speaking. "To be honest? I told them all to sod off."

Ethan raised an eyebrow at that. "My, my. Someone *is* rather piqued with his little charges." He tapped the mouth of his beer bottle against Giles' glass in a mocking toast, and then his other eyebrow shot to his hairline as Giles' hand creeped up his leg. "Forward, aren't we?"

"Just a little," Giles admitted cockily. Ethan always brought it out in him, and he tightened his grip on the firm thigh under his hand. "Let's go... and start the party a bit early, shall we?"

Ethan inclined his head. "I'm not one to deny the birthday boy his wish," he muttered softly, peeling off several bills to settle their bar tab with before motioning Giles towards the door. "Please. I'm... all yours." Another muttering, and the glamour spell that had hidden the handcuffs from sight and hearing was gone, and Rupert looked down in surprise, then back towards Ethan. "What, don't tell me you'd forgotten they were there?"

"Nearly," Rupert nodded sadly. 

"We'll have to take care of that." Ethan moved swiftly, pulling Giles' hands together behind his back and snapping the other cuff into place. "I think that, given the circumstances... I'll drive." He reached into Rupert's front pants pocket, pulling out the keys to the car and rubbing the backs of his fingers against Giles' cock. "Mmm. Looks as though you have a little present--well, not *little*--for me."

Giles struggled, but the handcuffs were surprisingly sturdy. "Ethan, what do you think you're doing?" His breath hissed through his teeth as Ethan stroked him teasingly, and he gritted them. "Ethan!"

"Yes?" Smirk that was trying for angelic and missed by a mile. 

"Open these this instant."

"No." Instead, Ethan pushed Giles against the passenger door of the car, holding him in place with his body as his hands slid up Giles' bound arms to cup his face, kissing him deeply and possessively. His tongue delved, biting, nibbling, licking, taking the kiss that Giles' defenseless body offered him. The soft moans that rumbled in Giles' throat only pushed him on, and Ethan's hands planted on either side of Giles' head, palms flat against the cool glass of the windows. Giles couldn't control his thrust forward, and his erection rubbed against Ethan's, and Ethan sucked in a deep breath. "Come on. Get in the car. We'll go home where we can finish this."

\- = - = - 

"Okay! Everybody! Shut up!!" Buffy was standing, for the moment, on one of Giles' kitchen chairs, trying to get everyone's attention. Xander and Cordelia were on opposite sides of Giles' living room, with Joyce sitting with Xander and Willow, and Cordelia was pouting by Oz's sound system as Wesley browsed through Giles' bookcase. "Did you all move your cars like I said? Cordelia?"

"Yes! I had to *walk* an entire *block* to get here."

"So sorry to put you out, but a bright red car with a Queen C plate on it isn't exactly inconspicuous transportation," Xander pointed out. "It's more like an eyesore."

"Just because--"

"Guys! Shut up! You're not doing this, okay? You're not making Giles' birthday all about your problems! Get over it." Buffy glared. "If it's your birthday, then you can cry all you want to. It's not, so shut up and suck it up."

"Geeze, touchy much?" Cordelia snapped her mouth shut and glared back at Buffy in return.

"All right! Thank you." Glare moved around the room. "We're going to have fun! Now, I don't wanna hear any talking, kissing, make-out noise, anything. Wesley, I don't care what you bump into or drop on your foot, one whimper and I'm ripping your throat out. The key to this party? Surprise, people! Giles should be coming home to change in a few minutes, so shut up until he gets here."

There was silence in the room, and Buffy climbed off her chair. Joyce was there waiting beside her. "Sweetie, I think it's wonderful you're doing this for Mr. Giles, but don't you think you're making a big production out of this?"

"Mom... he's my friend. He's given up a lot for me. Like, his job. All the stuff he's worked for all his life. For me. Cause... he thinks of me as a daughter. I'm not going to let anything ruin this, okay? Giles deserves some happiness, and I'm going to see that he gets it."

\- = - = - 

Ethan had laughed as soon as he'd realized the Citroen was Giles' car and that he was still driving it. "You need a new car, mate," he laughed, and pushed Giles' head down gently, helping him into the car. He got into the driver's side, and took a moment to familiarize himself with the controls and the mechanics of driving in the States, and then cranked the car. Surprisingly enough, it cranked on the first try, and Ethan smiled.

Even though he kept the accelerator to the floor, the piece of junk wouldn't go any faster than forty-five, and Ethan took the chance to make Giles squirm. "You know, Rupert, I spent a lot of time in the factory thinking about what I was going to do to you for leaving me there, without coming back and making good on the foreplay." He ran a finger up Giles' inseam. "I have... a lot of ideas. Most of them involve handcuffs, a feather, and a bottle of whiskey."

Giles closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the headrest. "I have a bottle hidden at the back of my weapons closet at home," Giles whispered throatily, lifting his lower body just a little to encourage Ethan's light strokes and touches.

"Mmm. Would you also happen to have a feather?"

"Bloody sadistic bastard," Giles snarled.

"Yes, but that's what you love about me." Ethan favored his friend with a firm, hard pressure against his cock for a moment. "Isn't it?"

\- = - = - 

"SSSSH!!!!" Buffy shushed. "There's Giles' car!!!!" 

Everybody sat up straight in their seats, mouths poised to shout surprise.

\- = - = - 

Ethan slammed Rupert up against the door frame, kissing him fiercely and unlocking the handcuffs with a quick twist of the key in the lock. Giles' hands came up to lock in Ethan's hair, hungry for contact with his lover. The handcuff key disappeared into Ethan's pocket and his hands were jerking roughly at the brown sweater, and he would have shredded the ugly garment if he could have. Instead, he contented himself with pulling it off, away, out of his eyesight, and Rupert helped, holding up his arms and pulling his head back just enough to pull the scratchy wool over his head. Ethan's tongue shot out and licked, soothing the minute red scrapes on Giles' jaw from the wool, and they thumped against the front door.

\- = - = - 

"Maybe he's having trouble with the key," Xander whispered. 

"Shut up!" Buffy hissed back sharply.

\- = - = - 

Ethan was grinding against Giles' ass as Giles fumbled with the key. One hand slid down and rubbed the front of Giles' slacks, and Giles moaned softly, arching his head back and resting it against Ethan's shoulder for a minute, exposing his throat. Ethan took advantage of it, sliding his other hand through Giles' hair and holding him still, biting lightly along his lover's throat. "Open." *Bite.* "The." *Suck.* "Door." *Bite.*

Giles moaned again.

\- = - = - 

"No, no, not the stake. Yeah. The crossbow, right. Xander?"

"Got the axe. Will, you okay with the club?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm good. Sharp pointy sticks are good." 

"Wesley!!! Stop hiding behind Cordelia and pick up the gun! No! Yes! The rifle, there!!"

"That's Oz's tranquilizer!"

"And if we're lucky, it'll stop whatever's attacking Giles!"

"On three, Buff?"

"Yeah. 1. 2. 3!!"

\- = - = - 

Giles' back was pressed against the door again, and he was paying so much attention to Ethan that he didn't realize the door had been wrenched out from under him until he was toppling back.

He fell to the floor of the foyer with Ethan sprawled on top of him, and found himself ringed with people bearing weapons, and a birthday banner hanging over the door. "What in the bloody hell--"

\- = - = - 

Buffy was pointing her crossbow at Giles' forehead. That was the first thing she noticed and she jerked it up, instantly. "Ethan, get the hell off him, now!" Then she blinked. And then she blushed.

Handcuffs. On Giles' wrist. Ethan's hand. Down the front of Giles' pants. Red bite marks ringing Giles' throat.

"Oh. My God."

\- = - = - 

Everyone was babbling at once, and Ethan's shoulders were shaking with laughter that he buried in Giles' shoulder.

"Sod off," Giles snarled, but he wasn't quite sure if it was to Ethan or the people staring and trying not to. "Ethan, shove off." He pushed at the other man's shoulders, trying to get him to move. 

Ethan rolled off Giles, laughter no longer muffled as he landed flat on his back in hysterics. "No plans for your birthday, Ripper?" 

Willow leaned over and peered at Giles. "Surprise?"

Giles... just sighed. Deeply so. "Thank you, Willow."

\- = - = - 

Buffy was massaging her temples. "You... okay. I don't know which is wigging me out more. That you're having sex with a guy, or that the guy you're having sex *with* is Ethan Rayne."

"Oh, yes, *do* discuss my personal life in front of everybody." Giles was very grumpy, but he'd gotten up out of the floor and had settled onto the couch beside Ethan. He was growling as he spoke. "Get the hell out." He peered at the closet, where Xander was stowing away the weapons. "What happened to my closet?"

Buffy cringed, and Joyce moved back into one of the corners. "I... cleaned it up."

Giles transferred the glare to Buffy. "You let her organize me?"

"Hey, I tried to stop the whole organization thing. She wouldn't listen. You deal with it." She pointed to Giles. "Mom? He's all yours." 

"Never mind." Giles sat back against the sofa cushions, and found his head resting on Ethan's shoulder. He didn't bother moving it. "What are you all doing here, in my house, without my permission?"

"Well, Buffy said it was okay," Cordelia piped up. "See, it was supposed to be a surprise birthday party, but then nobody knew you were going to go out and get yourself a date."

Wesley was polishing his glasses and trying not to comment. "Cordelia, please. This is certainly an embarrassing situation for Mr. Giles, and I see no reason for us to compound it. Rupert, I wish you a very happy birthday and many best wishes. But I think it's time to depart."

"God, please, yes. Can I go with you?"

"Of course, Cordelia." Wesley offered his arm. "If I may escort you?"

*Thank God. Two down, five to go.* "That would explain the cake and the banners, I suppose?" Giles questioned. "I'd like--"

"Tea!" Willow supplied, jumping to her feet. "We have tea!! We made! for you!!" She looked skittishly at Ethan. "Do you?"

"No, thank you, dear girl. I'm quite fine."

"Oh. Okay. Tea." Willow dragged Xander into the kitchen with her. "Come on. You can help."

"Okay! Yes! But I don't know anything about making tea! I just don't want to be in on the disturbing sex talk!!" He was almost bouncing in his eagerness to get *out* of the room. "Not thinking of Giles having sex. Not thinking of Giles having sex with Ethan. Willow!! Willow, help! I'm thinking it!"

"No! Don't think!" Willow kept dragging Xander into the kitchen, and she jumped when someone touched her arm. "Oz!"

"Tense out there." He leaned against the wall.

"Yeah, like we hadn't noticed. What, you thought we're getting tea just for the fun of it? Now, be quiet, I can't hear myself not thinking."

Willow and Oz exchanged a silent eye roll.

Ethan was sitting calmly on the sofa, legs crossed at the ankle as he sprawled, providing a comfortable pillow for Rupert to lean on. He was glaring, however, at the other woman. His Ripper's other woman. She was certainly dressed differently, not wearing trashy black shorts and a hideous coat. Instead, she was dressed nicely, and he barely held in the snort. "Sorry about the whole candy thing," he shrugged.

"Yeah, well, I'm sure nobody minded. I know Giles and my mother didn't." Buffy rolled her eyes. "Giles? What's going on?"

The music playing in the background--courtesy of Oz--wasn't the soothing sounds of the Bay City Rollers, but was instead one of the Pink Floyd albums he'd had stowed away in the back of his collection. Bloody wonderful. "I do have a life, you know. I do have a private life."

Buffy shuddered. "You're old, and you are *not* supposed to enjoy sex."

Ethan burst out laughing at that, and wasn't at all intimidated by the harsh glare that Rupert sent his way. "Give over, little girl. I'd guess your mum rather enjoyed her roll in the hay with Ripper."

Joyce blushed, and Giles sat up and turned around, the harsh glare giving way to a very stern face. Ethan just laughed all the harder, and Giles sighed explosively. "Buffy--"

"I don't want to hear about it!" Buffy all but shrilled. "I don't! It's gross, they had sex, never again!!" 

"For her, maybe," Ethan snickered. 

"Ethan, that's enough!" Giles snapped.

Willow flinched from the snap as she held out the teacup. "Here! Tea!" 

"Thank you, Willow." Giles sipped the hot brew and nearly spat it back out into the cup. "Did you add sugar?"

"Sure did." She elbowed Xander.

"Oof. Oh!!" He pulled a pink box out from behind his back, and opened it. "Jelly doughnuts!"

Oz looked at Buffy. "Food defuses tense situations; think of it as a diplomatic dinner."

"Right." 

Giles set the sickeningly sweet tea on the coffee table and took one of the jellies from the box. Took a bite, and closed his eyes in enjoyment for a very, very brief moment. It was broken by Ethan's fingers stroking over his shoulder, and he sighed. 

"Giles, can you *please* take the handcuffs off??" Buffy demanded. "They're wiggin' me out."

"Actually, no. I can't." Giles was sick of it. "Buffy, why didn't you just tell me that you were going to throw a party instead of letting me believe all day that you didn't remember?"

"Well... that kind of would have gone against the whole surprise idea, you know." She shifted guiltily in her chair. "Besides, I didn't know you were going to go out and do... whatever! You never do stuff! You're Giles!"

"Yes, he's Giles," Ethan said suddenly. "Do you think he stops existing between the hours of five pm and nine in the morning? You're off your bloody rocker, girl. He may be a Watcher--"

"Have been," Giles corrected softly.

"He *may be* a Watcher," Ethan emphasized, because he gave the Council absolutely no credence in his mind. "But he's also a man. With a life. With friends. With a personal life, no matter how distasteful you find it. I won't let you make him stop living, child."

"But--!!"

Joyce put her hand on Buffy's shoulders. "Come on. No, come on. Let's go." She looked at Giles, and then at Ethan. "You don't have to be so mean."

"Of course I do," Ethan countered. "Ripper's always been my main concern, and I'm not going to let some little bint of a girl treat him like that." 

"All right you... you... whatever you are! If I knew what you just said, I'd punch you!" Buffy got in Ethan's face. "He might be your friend, but he's *my* Watcher, and I care about him too! You're not going to tell me what I am and am not going to do with him!"

Joyce was trying to mediate between her screaming daughter and Ethan, and Giles very calmly got up from the sofa and went into the kitchen, busying himself with pouring out the now-cold tea and starting a fresh kettle to boil. He whistled softly as he worked, pulling the tea box down from the cabinet, steeping the bags, and bringing out the honey jar. By the time anyone noticed he was missing, Giles was sitting on one of the barstools beside the counter, calmly sipping fresh tea and chatting amiably with Willow, who looked scared out of her wits. 

\- = - = - 

Ethan was the first to notice that Giles was gone. He'd known that Rupert was going to make tea, and had kept half an eye on him while expecting him to come back to the couch. When he didn't, Ethan stopped in mid-tirade, staring questioningly at his lover.

Buffy was still ranting, but as she realized Ethan was quiet, she stopped yelling. "Giles?"

"--but really, my recommendation is to try and find a local coven first, and then if you don't find one, I'll assist you in searching further out." He took a serene sip of his tea and smiled benevolently. "Are you both quite finished?"

Ethan didn't bother to answer, but Buffy nodded sheepishly. "Good. Then I'll make this simple as possible." Giles walked over to his desk, rummaging around until he came up with a pack of English cigarettes. Ethan held out a light, and Giles offered a cigarette in return. Ethan declined, and Giles turned around to his guests. "Get. Out."

Willow jumped to her feet. "Yes! Getting out!" She shoved Xander towards the door, and started pulling Oz behind her. Smoking-Giles was never a good Giles. "Well, see you! Happy Birthday!"

"Whoa, Will! Enough with the pushy!! Happy Birthday, G-Man!"

"XANDER!" Willow succeeded in shoving Xander out the front door. "Sorry, Giles!!"

Oz just shrugged. "I'll get my stuff later. Great bash, man." 

The front door banged shut, and through the light cigarette smoke, Giles glared at Buffy. "That meant you, too."

"If you think I'm going to leave you alone with him--"

Rupert opened his mouth to protest, but Ethan quieted him with a hand to the shoulder. "Let her watch, Ripper. We'll have an audience again... just like old times." His hand slid down Rupert's chest, fondling a nipple through thin woven shirt-cloth, and Giles didn't move to stop him. 

Buffy broke. "EWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!! GILES!!!"

"Get out," he repeated, leaning his head back against Ethan's shoulder.

Buffy dragged her mother towards the door as Joyce was trying to shout final instructions to Ethan and Giles. "The cake is in the oven, all the trash is together and there's a bottle of rotten liquor sitting on the counter that needs to go out!" Buffy was still dragging, faster than before. "Oh! And you should let him put the cuffs on you," she directed towards Ethan.

"MOM!!!" Buffy bellowed it, overpowering her mother's last words, and slammed Giles' front door.

"About bloody time," Ethan growled. "I thought they'd never leave."

\- = - = -

Undressing was a fast, rough process that left shirts flung haphazardly over the hallway floor leading to the bedroom and rips in fragile silk. The handcuffs were still dangling from Rupert's wrist, and he honestly didn't care as long as he got to touch Ethan again. His nails dragged down the smooth expanse of flawless skin, raked up to tease pebbled nipples, and when Ethan's fingers stroked over his face, he sucked the fingertips into his mouth and grunted softly as Ethan's other hand stroked down his throat.

Foreplay was even rougher, leaving teeth marks in skin and raw, red bruises that would purple in the morning. Giles' throat was ringed with them, possessive, claiming marks that couldn't be hidden because of the lividity of them. Ethan bore his own marks; bites on his neck, a hickey behind his left earlobe, a chest scored with welts from his Ripper's nails.

Rupert had ridden Ethan hard; no tender kisses and soft touches. Instead, the harsh, almost animalistic mating of two male bodies, sliding against each other, slapping skin and grunts overpowering the whispered words and promises. Ethan's back ached from being arched to the breaking point; Rupert's groin would be sore in the morning from the powerful, pistoning thrusts.

Blinding orgasm then, and then Rupert allowed himself to be rolled onto his back, hands cuffed to the headboard and body at Ethan's mercy. 

\- = - = - 

Giles knew he'd allowed himself to drowse off, but he hadn't expected an empty bed to greet him. The half-empty bottle of whiskey and the honey spoon were still both sitting on the bedside table. He sat up, rubbing his eyes, and noticed that Ethan's clothes were still thrown haphazardly over the foot of the bed, and then a loud cursing from downstairs cued him into his lover's whereabouts. "Ethan?" he called, getting out of bed and sliding his robe over bare skin, belting it around his waist as he walked down the steps. 

"Bloody fucking hell! Couldn't have normal cookware, no, not Rupert Giles! Bloody cast iron pots!" 

Giles' eyebrow crooked as he came around the small corner. "Ethan, what in God's name are you doing?"

Ethan looked up, just glaring. "I hate your kitchen." But, in his hands were two plates, each with a square of the cake Joyce had baked, and each square of cake had a little candle in it. "And you are supposed to be in bed."

"With you bellowing about like a mad cow?" Giles reached over the counter for his cigarettes and lighter, and Ethan confiscated the lighter long enough to light the two candles in the cake squares. Then he raised one of the squares up enough for Giles to puff his cigarette into life using one of the candle flames. "Thank you."

"Those things are bad for your health, Ripper." Ethan snorted. "Nice to see you never lost the habit."

"Couldn't let the little ones see." He inhaled a deep lungful of smoke, and looked through the cloud at his lover. "I thought you'd gone."

Ethan held up the two cake squares. "Only long enough for cake." A salacious wiggle of his eyebrows. "Everybody... loves cake." He held one plate out to Rupert. "Happy Birthday, Rupert." A pause. "Aren't you going to blow out your candle and make a wish?"

Giles took the plate, and blew the candle out without any pretense before putting it back on the counter. "I already know what I wished for." Ethan didn't take his eyes off Rupert as he lifted his own piece of cake, pursed his lips suggestively, and blew the second candle out. A soft growl came out of Rupert's throat, and Ethan quickly found himself pulled hard against Ripper's surprisingly strong body. "And I have it... right here."

The End


End file.
